Banning cluster bombs

Currently, there are negotiations in place concerning an international treaty that would ban the use of cluster bombs. The reasoning is that these bombs kill an inordinate number of civilians, and they can explode months or years after they are dropped (similar to land mines).

The three biggest producers of cluster bombs are the United States, Russia, and China. All three of them oppose banning cluster bombs, and all three have veto power on the U.N. Security Council. Worse, none of them have representatives present at the current negotiations.

A senior U.S. official [an assistant secretary of state] said Wednesday that a proposed treaty banning cluster bombs would hurt world security and endanger U.S. military cooperation on humanitarian work with countries that sign the accord.

Imagine that! Humanitarian work is used as the excuse to justify cluster bombs, which children mistake for toys!